Given the cast and premise, you'd probably assume this crime film, shot as L'ultima chance but best known in English as Stateline Hotel, made at the height of the Italian poliziotto wave falls in line with those gritty, often topical classics. The actual movie is something else entirely though, a character study of a flailing criminal fresh out of jail more in line with fatalistic romantic noirs from the '40s complete with double and triple crosses all the way to the finish line. It's also part of a small, strange category of Italian films made in Canada along with titles like Blazing Magnum and Red Coats, here using the chilly, desolate setting better than any of them. Featuring real-life couple at the time Ursula Andress and Fabio Testi as well as Eli Wallach in one of his numerous Italian character roles, the film had enough of a pedigree to earn a theatrical release in the U.S. in 1975 (edited down by over ten minutes, as usual for the time) and a fairly accessible VHS release from Simitar. After that it largely went under the radar for decades with its superb score by future Oscar winner Luis Bacalov getting far more recognition from the '90s onward.

Immediately after being released from prison, Floyd (Testi, who looks nothing like any "Floyd" ever) embarks on a jewelery store heist with cohort Joe (Wallach) that goes south when a man gets killed in the process. After a frenetic police chase across Montreal, they split the bounty in half and arrange to meet up in the U.S. after crossing the border from Canada, but en route Floyd skids off the road and ends getting his car fixed in a small town by iffy mechanic Jacques (Ross). Floyd bides his time at the Last Chance Motel where he starts an affair with owner Michelle (Andress) under the nose of her husband, Fred (Girotti). Also hanging around are local cop Albert (a very young De Mejo before his Lucio Fulci days) and his casual girlfriend, housemaid Emily (Bach, fresh off her early giallo roles). Soon Joe is turning up to see whether his partner poses a risk to his safety, and Michelle wants in on Floyd's escape plan-- all of which come with their own set of potentially fatal challenges.

Technically this film checks off the necessary boxes for its genre: car stunts, a couple of deaths, multiple criminals facing off against each other, a valuable stash that keeps changing hands, and so on. However, it's the snowy, melancholy mood that really sticks here with the leads all giving better, more interesting performances than the material would normally require. Like many of his peers, director Maurizio Lucidi had started off in spaghetti westerns but by this point was dabbling in more modern fare with this film falling smack in the middle of a run that included The Designated Victim and Street People. His direction here isn't showy, but he handles the balance of drama and action well with a keen eye for editing and framing throughout including a weirdly potent sting in the tale ending. Unfortunately that final moment and many others were blunted in the U.S. version, which was shorn of some vital character moments (especially the first trip into town for Michelle and Floyd) and lost quite a bit of logic in the process. That version was used for several bootlegs over the years including an unwatchable one from Televista, all of which should be avoided as much as possible.

In 2023, German label Mediacs released a restored version of the film in separate Blu-ray and DVD editions of the uncut version (with Italian or German audio, no English options); however, the PAL master ran too fast even on the Blu-ray and clocked in at 97m32s. The 2025 Blu-ray from U.K. label Shameless Screen Entertainment is obviously a big improvement since it features the English track (much more complete than the VHS here but with a few little slivers still in subtitled Italian) along with the full subtitled Italian version with subtitles; optional English SDH subtitles are also provided. The film can be played with English or Italian-language credits as well (via seamless branching), and the quality is from the same scan and looks comparable. Three new featurettes are included starting with a new Testi interview (15m27s) about his positive memories of this cinematic adventure including his admiration for the script and Lucidi (whose editing background was invaluable here), the reason Wallach wore glasses in the film, the beginning of his romance with Andress while her relationship with Ryan O'Neal was fizzling out, his audition as James Bond, a knee injury he suffered that affected the shooting schedule, and the freezing conditions in Canada versus the small amount done back in Italy. In "Last Chance Motel" (18m41s), Nocturno founder Davide Pulici chats about the film's source novel, the major crime films around this time from other directors, the noir aspects of this film, the edgy nature of the main sex scene at the time (which is nothing compared to what Andress did soon after), and the functions of the end result in various genres. Finally in "Through the Lens of Lucidi" (12m5s), Pulici provides a thorough background of the director's life and work (or at least as much as is possible) including his adaptability to different genres and a few underseen gems worth seeking out.

Reviewed on September 23, 2025